Tag: Java

Java by Comparison, Simon Harrer et al, Pragmatic Programmers, 2018

I really wish I had read this book about two weeks after I started working with Java.

The book gets straight to the point, as it works by example, not by dry description. Each two page example shows half a page of Java code, unremarkable, code which would be normal for many programmers in many companies. On the facing page, it shows slightly changed code, and the changes might seem trivial. Now read the description and see that the changes are very important for readability and maintainability. Just common sense, you will say. But more than this, it is a matter of code quality. Maybe you are already writing quality code, but if not then read this book and you will start writing better code automatically without much thought.

This book is for Java, but much of it applies to Python or other languages. For example, p76, Always Catch Most Specific Exception. And the chapter on naming conventions will be different in the details, but the core suggestions ring true.

Read more about the book at the book’s website.